Thursday, January 31, 2008

In the next five years, there will be IT parks in almost all the districts of Kerala, said the Chief Minister, Mr V.S. Achuthanandan. This is in keeping with the State Government’s commitment to replicating the success of Technopark Thiruvananthapuram, he added.

Inaugurating the second annual conference of the Indian Science and Technology Entrepreneurs’ Parks and Business Incubators’ Association (ISBA) in the city today, he said that the State Government’s effort is to provide direct employment in the IT sector to at least 2 lakh people in five years through these efforts. This goal will be achievable only with the active participation of budding entrepreneurs, he added.

The business incubation facilities at the Technopark Thiruvananthapuram are a role model for the entire nation, the Chief Minister said. Inspired by the success of Technopark’s business incubator, the State Government will encourage the setting up of business incubators in all engineering colleges and polytechnics in the State, he added.

In his address to the gathering, Dr Ajay Kumar, Secretary, IT, Government of Kerala, said that business incubators will be established in all the district IT parks that the State Government plans to set up. Similarly, space for the business incubator in the ITES Habitat Centre in Kochi will be doubled, he added.

Earlier, addressing the gathering, the State Industries Minister, Mr Elamaram Kareem, said that the State needed a culture of entrepreneurship to flourish.

The three-day ISBA conference is being hosted by Technopark Thiruvananthapuram and will focus on the theme ‘creating global enterprises through the incubation route’.